World Hockey Association

The World Hockey Association (WHA) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926. Although the WHA was not the first league since that time to attempt to challenge the NHL's supremacy, it was by far the most successful in the modern era.

The two leagues merged in 1979, which resulted in four WHA clubs joining the NHL. The WHA officially folded on June 22 and the remaining franchises that did not join the NHL folded as well.

Teams

Franchise	Locations	Venues	Years	Fate
Alberta Oilers Edmonton Oilers	Edmonton, Alberta	Edmonton Gardens Northlands Coliseum	1972-74 1974-79	Joined the NHL in 1979.
Chicago Cougars	Chicago, Illinois	International Amphitheatre Randhurst Ice Arena	1972-75	Folded in 1975.
Cincinnati Stingers	Cincinnati, Ohio	Riverfront Coliseum	1975-79	Folded in 1979.
Denver Spurs Ottawa Civics	Denver, Colorado Ottawa, Ontario	Denver Coliseum Ottawa Civic Centre	1975 1976	Folded in 1976.
Houston Aeros	Houston, Texas	Sam Houston Coliseum The Summit	1972-75 1975-78	Folded in 1978.
Indianapolis Racers	Indianapolis, Indiana	Market Square Arena	1974-78	Folded in 1978.
New England Whalers	Boston, Massachusetts	Boston Arena Boston Garden	1972-73 1973-74	Joined the NHL in 1979.
	West Springfield, Massachusetts	Big E Coliseum	1974-75
	Hartford, Connecticut	Hartford Civic Center	1975-78
	Springfield, Massachusetts	Springfield Civic Center	1978-79
Phoenix Roadrunners	Phoenix, Arizona	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	1974-77	Folded in 1977.
Ottawa Nationals Toronto Toros Birmingham Bulls	Ottawa, Ontario	Ottawa Civic Centre	1972-73	Folded in 1979.
	Toronto, Ontario	Varsity Arena Maple Leaf Gardens	1973-76
	Birmingham, Alabama	Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex	1976-79
Quebec, Nordiques	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Winnipeg Arena	1972-79	Joined the NHL in 1979.
Winnipeg Jets	Quebec City, Quebec	Colisée de Québec	1972-79	Joined the NHL in 1979.

See also

WHA League Publications